Dr Darcy Cordell is an assistant professor in the Centre for Science at Athabasca University. He received his PhD in Geophysics from the University of Alberta in 2020. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta from 2020-2022, and was an NSERC postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta from 2023-2025. His research interests are broadly concerned with the topic of natural hazards and electromagnetic induction in the Earth. Past projects have included looking inside the Earth using electromagnetic geophysical imaging techniques to look for accumulations of magma at volcanoes in Chile, and imaging aqueous fluids in earthquake-prone subduction zones in Costa Rica and Alaska. More recently, his research has focused on space weather hazards in Canada whereby perturbations of Earth's geomagnetic field induce electric fields at the surface which can cause problems for large, grounded infrastructure such as power transmission networks and pipelines.
Research interests
Geophysics
Natural Hazards
Space Weather
Geomagnetism
Volcanology
Subduction Zones
Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetotellurics
Educational credentials
PhD (Geophysics, University of Alberta, 2020)
BSc Hon. (Geophysics, University of Calgary, 2013)
Cordell, D., Mann, I.R., Dimitrakoudis, S., Parry, H., Unsworth, M.J., 2025. Long-term peak geoelectric field behavior for space weather hazard assessment in Alberta, Canada using geomagnetic and magnetotelluric measurements: Space Weather, v.23, doi: 10.1029/2024SW004305
Cordell, D., Unsworth, M.J., 2025, The influence of the geoelectric coast effect on geomagnetically induced currents: IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, doi: 10.1109/TPWRD.2025.3544488
Parry, H.G., Mann, I.R., Kale, A., Milling, D.K., Clark, C., Cui, R., Cordell, D., Unsworth, M.J., 2024, Using a differential magnetometer measurement to infer geomagnetically induced currents: An augmented approach: Space Weather, v.22, doi: 10.1029/2024SW003894
Lee, B., Unsworth, M.J., Finley, T., Kong, W., Cordell, D., 2024. Electrically anisotropic structure of the Rocky Mountain Trench near Valemount, British Columbia: Implications for geothermal exploration: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, v.61, doi: 10.1139/cjes-2023-0086.
Cordell, D., Mann, I.R., Parry, H., Unsworth, M.J., Clark, C., Cui, R., Kelemen, E., MacMullin, R., 2024. Modelling geomagnetically induced currents in the Alberta power network: Comparison and validation using Hall probe measurements during a magnetic storm: Space Weather, v.22, doi: 10.1029/2023SW003813.
Cordell, D., Naif, S., Evans, R., Key, K., Constable, S., Shillington, D., Bécel, A., 2023. Forearc seismogenesis in a weakly coupled subduction zone influenced by slab mantle fluids: Nature Geoscience, v.16, doi: 10.1038/s41561-023-01260-w.
Cordell, D., Naif, S., Troch, J., Huber, C., 2022. Constraining magma reservoir conditions by integrating thermodynamic petrological models and bulk resistivity from magnetotellurics: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v.23, doi:10.1029/2022GC010455.
Cordell, D., Hill, G., Bachmann, O., Moorkamp, M., Huber, C., 2022. Estimating melt fraction in silicic systems using Bayesian inversion of magnetotelluric data: Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, v.423, doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2022.107470.
Cordell, D., Unsworth, M.J., Lee, B., Hanneson, C., Milling, D., Mann, I.R., 2021. Estimating the geoelectric field and electric power transmission line voltage during a geomagnetic storm in Alberta, Canada using empirical magnetotelluric impedance data: The influence of three-dimensional electrical structures in the lithosphere: Space Weather, v.19, doi:10.1029/2021SW002803.
Lee, B., Unsworth, M.J., Arnason, K., Cordell, D., 2020. Imaging the magmatic system beneath the Krafla geothermal field, Iceland: A new 3-D electrical resistivity model from inversion of magnetotelluric data: Geophysical Journal International, v.220, doi:10.1093/gji/ggz427
Cordell, D., Unsworth, M.J., Diaz, D., Reyes-Wagner, V., Currie, C., Hicks, S.P., 2019. Fluid and melt pathways in the central Chilean subduction zone near the 2010 Maule earthquake (35°S-36°S) as inferred from magnetotelluric data: Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, v.20, doi:10.1029/2018GC008167
Cordell, D., Unsworth, M.J., Diaz, D., 2018. Imaging the Laguna del Maule Volcanic Field, central Chile using magnetotellurics: Evidence for crustal melt regions laterally-offset from surface vents and lava flows: Earth and Planetary Science Letters, v.488, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2018.01.007